Eugenio Barsanti

Italy (1821-1864)

Priest, Physicist, and Mathematician.

Eugenio Barsanti was born in 1821. After he’d gotten old enough to talk, walk, and make decisions about his own education, he joined the convent of Sant’ Agostino in Pretsanta to study at the  convent’s  scientific school. He obtained “higher studies with excellent results in all subjects, … [particularly]... scientific subjects,” (1) and went on to be ordained a priest.  After his novitiate, Fr. Barsanti decided to attend San Giovannino college. At some point, he was even a Professor of physics in the college of S. Giovannino.

He also taught physics and mathematics in Volterra at the college of San Michele. There, Fr. Barsanti developed a way “to use the bursting of air and gas to produce a new driving force.” He did this using “a reproduction of Alessandro Volta’s gun” which he built himself. He then filled it with hydrogen and air, and hermetically sealed it using a cork cap and a brass bar. The electrologopneumatic gun burst the seal, sending it flying toward the ceiling. This was a classroom demonstration.

After some time in Volterra, Fr. Barsanti continued “his experiments in physics at the Ximeniano Observatory in Florence … where he … had the opportunity to meet Felice Matteucci.” Felice Matteucci was also from Lucca, Italy and was working on reclamation of the Bientina lake. Barsanti was a physicist, Matteucci an engineer, and they worked well together.

The two worked together on creating an internal combustion engine. “Research and experiments [began in 1851]... with a cast-iron cylinder with a piston and valves, through which they studied the effects of some explosive mixtures.” (2) Once Barsanti and Matteucci created a prototype, they decided to patent their invention. “They applied for authorship in England, at the time the leading European country in the field of trade and industry.” (2) They also filed patents in 1853 in  France, Germany, and Italy.In 1854, they got their patent from England. They finished building the engine in 1860.  They also set up a company around the invention, an engine which featured a two-cylinder engine, twenty horsepower.  However, while the invention was brilliant in scientific terms and useful in economic ones (the force of a steam engine cost 12 cents, while their invention produced a force at 2 cents)(2), non-Italian countries initially stuck with a later, similar invention created by Etienne Lenoir and patented in 1859. In fact, for several decades no one discussed Barsanti and Matteucci’s invention at all, instead beginning the history of internal combustion engines with Lenoir’s invention.  (3)

Nonetheless, Matteucci and Fr. Barsanti continued their collaboration and created new prototypes of their engine. Then, in 1864, John Cockeril’s mining company in Belgium “decided to use [Father] Barsanti’s engine for a first series production, [as the new prototype was] much more efficient than Lenoir’s engine.” (1)

Fr. Barsanti’s life was filled with study, physical experimentation, and ecclesiastical duty.  He died at age 43, 1864 of typhoid fever, shortly before he was intended to participate “in the start of series construction of his engine” (1)

Works Referenced

(1) https://www.informagiovani-italia.com/eugenio-barsanti-en.htm

(2) http://www.perinijournal.it/Items/en-US/Articoli/PJL-23/The-internal-combustion-engine-was-born-in-Lucca

(3) http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/eugenio-barsanti/

Giovanni Battista Venturi

Italy (1746-1822)

Giovanni Battista Venturi is an Italian scientist born in 1746. Venturi was "fascinated by the history of science as [..  well as] by its application," and was "one of the first to call attention to Leonardo Da Vinci's ‘work as a scientist and engineer" (2). He was also the first to note the effects of constricted channels on fluid flow (1).

Giovanni Venturi's primary expertise was in fluid dynamics and hydraulic engineering. He built on “the work performed by David Bernoulli and Leonard Euler”(2). Venturi discovered that when fluid goes into a constricted area of a pipe, the fluid’s velocity increases and its static pressure decreases. If the velocity stayed constant, rather than increasing, then weird things would happen to the matter present in the pipe, breaking the law of the conservation of matter. Meanwhile, if the pressure stayed constant, rather than decreasing, then the kinetic energy produced by the velocity would not follow the law of conservation of energy, again causing physics problems.

By 1769, 23-year-old Giovanni Venturi was ordained and became a professor. In 1774, he was appointed as professor of geometry and philosophy at the University of Modena. (2) In 1778, he was promoted to Professor of experimental physics. During his tenure, he was also the state engineer and state auditor for the Duke of Modena, as well as ducal mathematician. He “served in many diplomatic appointments on France & Switzerland” and met with fellow scientists there. He retired in 1813, “but continued to publish his own works and compile works of other famous scientists until his death in 1822.” (2)

The Venturi effect is something we use to this day. For example, a Venturi nozzle can generate a velocity high enough and a pressure low enough to draw a vacuum.

[Edited June 30 2022 for clarity]

Works Referenced

(1) Bernoulli's Theorem https://www.britannica.com/science/Bernoullis-theorem#ref254081

(2) Venturi Effect  http://glewengineering.com/italian-masters-venturi-and-the-venturi-effect/amp/

Andreas Tacquet

Belgium (1612–1660)

Andreas Tacquet went to a Jesuit college for his higher education and joined the Jesuit order in 1629. The same year, he began studying at Malines, Belgium. Then, partway through 1631, he went to Louvain and continued his studies. He studied mathematics under William Boalmans, who had been taught by Gregorius Saint Vincent (1). He also studied logic and physics.

From 1634 to 1639, Tacquet taught at Jesuit colleges, and then from 1640 to 1644, he studied theology at Louvean. This was followed by a year or so of teaching math at Louvean. Then, in November 1646, he took his vows and continued to teach math (1).

He published several works, and was known for "great clarity" in his writing (3). His works included Cylindrieorum et annularium, which has some original theorems on cylinders and rings; Elementara geometriae, a well organized paraphrase of parts of Euclid and Archimedes; and a posthumously published work called Opera mathematica (1). The final book, published in 1669, was described by Henry Oldenburg as ‘one of the best books ever written in Mathematics (2), and "contained works on astronomy, spherical trigonometry, practical geometry, and fortification” (3).

Tacquet helped to pave the way for Calculus. Previously people had thought of lines as being composed of points. He introduced the idea that a moving point could generate a line -- or a curve. This, and other ideas, influenced the thinking of Pascal and his contemporaries, and acted as a foundation for future progress (3).

Tacquet was a “brilliant mathematician of international repute.” His books were frequently reprinted and there were several Italian and English editions (1, 2). The Elementara geometriae was one of several math textbooks that he wrote for students in his math class. (3).

Works Referenced

(1) https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/tacquet-andreas

(2) http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/tacquet.htm

(3) http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Tacquet.html

(4) https://archive.org/details/elementageometr00tacqgoog

 

Edited for clarity on August 12th, 2021